Hallucinogenic drugs may actually be good for you, a team of researchers has concluded.

Norwegian scientists have carried out extensive research on the effects of LSD - or trips - by studying drugs surveys from tens of thousands of Americans.

The findings are at odds with the long held belief that LSD and other 'mind-enhancing' drugs - such as mescaline and the drug psilocybin, found in magic mushrooms - result in flashbacks, paranoia and long term mental health problems.

Researchers Pal-Orjan Johansen and Teri Krebs from Norway’s University of Science and Technology in Trondheim examined the drug taking habits of more than 130,000 American citizens between 2001 and 2004. Last year the duo even recommended that LSD could be an effective treatment for alcoholism.

Some 22,000 of those surveyed had taken psychedelic drugs at least once. Their findings were published in the science journal PLOS One.